Would you recognise this junction today?

THEN: Fir Tree Corner, circa 1962. The spot where Eastern Road was planned to have its junction with Havant Road.

Long before the A3(M) was constructed, to get to Old Bedhampton from Farlington meant leaving the A27 at Fir Tree Corner.

In the old photograph here the old road to Lower Road can just be made out to the right of the tree.

The road on the left is the A27 which would have made its way through Bedhampton and on to Havant and Chichester.

The bus had come from Leigh Park and was heading for the Dockyard. It was either a 148A or 148B. One went along Stockheath Lane and down Riders Lane into Purbrook Way, the other went along Barncroft Way and into Purbrook Way in an opposite direction. That was the only distinction.

NOW: Sadly the old landmark went in the mid-1960s to be replaced by this massive junction. Picture: Bob Hind

On the far right can be seen the Victorian brick-built bridge over the railway line, which is still there.

The A3(M) runs behind the trees and over the flyover on the right.

At the time of the original photograph the area was still rural, but with new houses built on the lower slopes of Portsdown Hill (behind the camera) in recent years and with new homes being built on Forty Acres just a quarter-mile east of where the tree was, the traffic in the area will be proportionately increased.

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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Would you recognise this junction today? | Nostalgia

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